BA in Language and Linguistics - Cognitive Science Focus

The major and minor in language and linguistics focus on theoretical generative linguistics, which involves the formal description and analysis of language. The core subfields of linguistics, phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, explore the sound, word, sentence, and meaning structures and patterns in natural languages. As a whole, these areas of study aim to understand the nature of a speaker’s knowledge of his or her native language, and to place this knowledge in a psychological and biological framework. Flexible elective options for the major and minor allow students to deepen and broaden their study of the traditional areas of linguistics itself, as well as to explore the role of language in various scientific, social, and humanistic disciplines. The latter include cognitive science; computational linguistics, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence; historical philology and epigraphy; literary theory; neuroscience; philosophy of language and logic; psychology; semiotic and linguistic anthropology; and sociolinguistics. Learning Goals Linguistics involves the scientific study of human language, which the major approaches from a theoretical, generative perspective. The major's required core courses focus on the description and analysis of structures in the world's languages, in the linguistic subfields of phonology (including morphophonology), which studies linguistic sounds and sound patterns; syntax (including morphosyntax), which studies phrase and sentence structures; and semantics, which studies meaning that arises through our knowledge of words and grammar, or pragmatics, which studies meaning that arises through contextual inference and discourse structure. The major complements this grounding in the traditional core areas of linguistics with a set of elective courses chosen by each student, according to individual interests and academic goals. These are chosen from a diverse set of course offerings, ranging from electives in linguistics itself to language-related courses in disciplines that include anthropology, philosophy, computer science, near-eastern and Judaic studies, education, psychology, and neuroscience. Through the major's Focus Options, students can also opt to focus their elective course choices on one of the specific domains of the Cognitive Science of Language, Language and Society, Language and Computation, or General Linguistics. Cognitive Science of Language Focus The cognitive science of language focus addresses the major issues and methodologies in the study of intelligent systems, combining elements of linguistics, computer science, biology and neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. In addition to the required core courses and the advanced language requirement for the language and linguistics major, it is recommended that students focusing on cognitive science include as many of the following courses as possible from the other contributing disciplines of cognitive science: 1. Formal and Computational Approaches to Cognition: LING 131a, LING 160a, COSI 101a, COSI 112a, and COSI 114b. 2. Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition: LING 197a, PSYC 10a, PSYC 15a, PSYC 21a, NPSY 11b, NPSY 12a, and NPSY 22b. 3. Philosophy of Cognition: PHIL 133a, PHIL 137a, and PHIL 140a. This program based on Cognitive Science of Language Focus. In addition to Cognitive Science of Language Focus, there are Language and Society Focus, Language and Computation Focus, General Linguistics Focus also available.